Semiconductor memory device having high electrical performance and mask and photolithography friendliness

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of rows, each row comprising a plurality of active regions arranged at a pitch wherein the active regions in adjacent rows are shifted with respect to each other by one half of the pitch, wherein a distance between each active region in a row is equal to a distance between active regions in adjacent rows.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/918,175 filed on Aug. 13, 2004, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor device and, moreparticularly, to a semiconductor memory device having high electricalperformance, mask friendliness and photolithography friendliness.

BACKGROUND

Highly integrated Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) devices such as256 MB DRAMs and gigabit DRAMs can be constructed due to technologicaladvances that have enabled increases in storage capacity. To manufacturea highly integrated DRAM, a variety of memory cell layouts satisfying adesign rule have been proposed. Generally, a preferable memory celllayout contains characteristics such as mask friendliness andphotolithography friendliness. A memory cell transistor fabricated usingthe desirable memory cell layout is expected to have high electricalperformance. Mask friendliness is attained if limitations of maskmanufacturing process are met, writing time is shortened and maskfidelity is satisfied. The photolithography friendliness can be attainedif an optical process is corrected with a single-pitch layout.

Conventional layouts of active regions of a memory cell include a layoutof straight active regions and a layout of diagonal active regions. U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,194,752, 5,305,252 and 6,031,262 disclose the layout ofdiagonal active regions.

FIG. 1A shows the conventional layout of straight active regions 1 on awafer. FIG. 1B is a plan view of a mask pattern for forming theconventional layout of straight active regions shown in FIG. 1A. FIG. 1Cis a plan view of active regions AR1 and word lines WL1. The activeregions AR1 are printed on the wafer using the mask pattern shown inFIG. 1B. FIG. 2A shows the conventional layout of diagonal activeregions 2. FIG. 2B is a plan view of a mask pattern for forming theconventional layout of diagonal active regions shown in FIG. 2A. FIG. 2Cis a plan view of active regions fort 2 and word lines WL2. The activeregions AR2 are printed on the wafer using the mask pattern shown inFIG. 2B.

Referring to FIG. 1B, the mask pattern for forming the straight activeregions AR1 shown in FIG. 1C requires a plurality of auxiliary patterns1 b, 1 c, 1 d and 1 e with different sizes. The auxiliary patterns 1 b,1 c, 1 d and 1 e are disposed adjacent to a main pattern 1 a. Theauxiliary patterns 1 b, 1 c, 1 d and 1 e are used for opticalcorrections. Referring to FIG. 2B, the mask pattern for forming thediagonal active regions AR2 shown in FIG. 2C includes at least twelverectangular patterns 2 a, 2 b, 2 e, 2 d, 2 e, 2 f, 2 g, 2 h, 2 i, 2 j, 2k and 2 l. The twelve rectangular patterns 2 a to 2 l define one activeregion. It is known that the mask patterns shown in FIGS. 1B and 2B aredifficult to fabricate and have low mask fidelity. Further it takes along time to fabricate the mask patterns, and photolithography using themask patterns has a low process margin.

With the conventional layout of straight active regions, two word linesWL1 intersect each active region AR1 as shown in FIG. 1C to form memorycell pairs. That is, a memory cell pair is formed in each active regionAR1. The word lines WL1 cross the edge of the active regions AR1. Thewidth of the edge of the active region AR1 is narrower than the width ofthe center of the active region AR1 because the edge of the activeregion AR1 is more affected by an optical proximity effect than thecenter of the active region AR1. Thus, an actual gate width GW1 of amemory cell transistor is narrower than the width of the active regionAR1.

With the conventional layout of diagonal active regions two word linesWL2 intersect each active region AR2 as shown in FIG. 2C to form memorycell pairs. The word lines WL2 cross the active regions AR2 diagonally.As a result, the whole intersection of the word line WL2 and the activeregion AR2 cannot be used as an actual gate region. Only a portionindicated by a shaded area A can be used as the actual gate region.Accordingly, an actual gate width GW2 is narrower than the width of theactive region AR2. As the actual gate width decreases, the thresholdvoltage Vth of the memory cell transistor decreases. The decreasedthreshold voltage increases sub-threshold leakage current, anddeteriorates dynamic refresh characteristic of DRAMs. In FIGS. 1C and2C, GL1 and GL2 represent gate lengths.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments of the invention generally include semiconductormemory devices having high integrity density, mask and photolithographyfriendliness, and high electrical performance.

More specifically, in an exemplary embodiment of the invention, asemiconductor memory device comprises a plurality of rows, each rowcomprising a plurality of active regions arranged at a pitch wherein theactive regions in adjacent rows are shifted with respect to each otherby one half of the pitch, wherein a distance between each active regionin a row is equal to a distance between active regions in adjacent rows.

In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a semiconductor memorydevice comprises: active regions constructed such that a first row inwhich the active regions are arranged at a pitch and a second row inwhich active regions are arranged at the pitch, wherein the of activeregions in the second row are shifted from, the active regions of thefirst row in the direction of a row, wherein the first row in the secondrow are arranged alternately; and word lines arranged in the directionof a column, wherein the word lines intersect each active region,wherein the pitch is a sum of a width of an active region and a distancebetween each active region in a row, and the pitch is four times of awidth of a word line.

In yet another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a semicondiuctormemory device comprises: a substrate; word lines extended in a columndirection and arranged in parallel on the substrate; bit lines extendedin a row direction perpendicular to the column direction such that thebit lines intersect the word lines and are arranged in parallel on thesubstrate; active regions formed on the substrate, each of the activeregions including a first impurity region, a second impurity regionsformed therein, a channel region defined by the first impurity regionand the second impurity region, being crossed by each word line formedon the channel region; and a memory cell array comprising memory dellpairs, each memory cell of each of the memory cell pairs being formed inone of the active regions and comprising a charge storage capacitor, afirst contact connecting one of the bit lines to the first impurityregion and a second contact connecting a storage node of the chargestorage capacitor to the second impurity region, the first contact ofeach of the memory cell pairs being electrically connected to eachother.

In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a semiconductor memorydevice comprises: word lines arranged such that a group in the order ofa first:, a second, a third and a fourth word lines repeats; bit linesarranged such that a group in the order of a first, a second, a thirdand a fourth bit lines repeats; first memory cell pairs arranged in amatrix form and connected to the first bit line, each of the firstmemory cell pairs comprising a first memory cell formed in a firstactive region intersecting the first word line and a second memory cellformed in a second active region intersecting the second word line;second memory cell pairs arranged in the matrix form and connected tothe third bit line, each of the second memory cell pairs comprising athird memory cell formed in a third active region intersecting the thirdword line and a fourth memory cell formed in a fourth active regionintersecting the fourth word line; third memory cell pairs arranged inthe matrix form and connected to the second bit line, each of the thirdmemory cell pairs comprising a fifth memory cell formed in a fifthactive region intersecting the second word line and a sixth memory cellformed in a sixth active region intersecting the third word line; andfourth memory cell pairs arranged in the matrix form and connected tothe fourth bit line, each of the fourth memory cell pairs comprising amemory cell formed in a seventh active region intersecting the fourthword line and a memory cell formed in an eighth active regionintersecting the first word line belonging to a group adjacent to theword line group including the fourth word line, wherein the matrix formis a form of rectangular arrangement.

In yet another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a semiconductormemory device comprises: a unit cell having a length equal to fourminimum feature size in a row direction and a length equal to twominimum feature size in a column direction such that the unit cell hasan area equal to eight minimum feature size squared, wherein each of anaccess word line, a storage node contact, a bit line contact, and a password line have one minimum feature size in the row direction, whereineach of a bit line and a bit line space have one minimum feature size inthe column direction.

These and other exemplary embodiments aspects, features, etc., of theinvention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplaryembodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 a shows a conventional layout of straight active regions

FIG. 1 b is a plan view of a mask pattern for forming a conventionallayout of the straight active regions shown in FIG. 1 a on a wafer.

FIG. 1 c is a plan view of the straight active regions of FIG. 1 a andword lines printed on a wafer.

FIG. 2 a shows a conventional layout of diagonal active regions.

FIG. 2 b is a plan view of a mask pattern for forming a conventionallayout of the diagonal active regions shown in FIG. 2 a.

FIG. 2 c is a plan view of the diagonal active regions of FIG. 2 a andword lines printed on a wafer.

FIG. 3 a shows a layout of active regions of a memory cell array in asemiconductor memory device according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 b is a plan view of a mask pattern used to form the activeregions shown in FIG. 3 a.

FIG. 3 c is a plan view of the active regions of FIG. 3 a printed on awafer.

FIG. 4 a shows a layout of word lines of a memory cell array in asemiconductor memory device according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 b is a plan view of the word lines of FIG. 4 a printed on awafer.

FIG. 5 a shows a layout of self-aligned contacts of a memory cell arrayin a semiconductor memory device according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIGS. 5 b and 5 c are plan views of mask patterns used to form theself-aligned contacts shown in FIG. 5 a.

FIG. 5 d is a plan view of the self-aligned contacts of FIG. 5 a printedon a wafer.

FIG. 6 a shows a layout of bit line contacts of a memory cell array in asemiconductor memory device according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 b is a plan view of a mask pattern used to form the bit linecontacts shown in FIG. 6 a.

FIG. 6 c is a plan view of the bit line contacts of FIG. 6 a printed ona wafer.

FIG. 7 a shows a layout of storage node contacts of a memory cell arrayin a semiconductor memory device according to an exemplary embodimentoil the present invention.

FIG. 7 b is a plan view of a mask pattern used to form the storage nodecontacts shown in FIG. 7 a.

FIG. 7 c is a plan view of the storage node contacts of FIG. 7 a printedon a wafer.

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram of a memory cell array of a semiconductormemory device according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 shows a layout of the memory cell array shown in FIG. 8.

FIGS. 10 a to 10 e are cross-sectional views of a semiconductor memorydevice including a Capacitor Over Bit (COB) linestructure fabricatedaccording to the layout shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a modified mask pattern used to form wordlines of a memory cell array in a semiconductor memory device accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a modified mask pattern of word lines formedon a conventional layout of diagonal active regions.

FIG. 13 is a plan view showing an image of the word lines of FIG. 11 andan image of active regions and self-aligned contacts modified accordingto the word lines of FIG. 11.

FIG. 14 is a graph showing a relationship between a sub-thresholdvoltage and a gate width.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be describedmore fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. This inventionmay however, be embodied in many different forms and should not beconstrued as being limited to the exemplary embodiments set forthherein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments are provided so that thisdisclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey theconcept of the invention to those skilled in the art.

A semiconductor memory device according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention includes a memory cell array suitable for highintegration The semiconductor memory device includes a symmetricalmemory cell structure having mask friendliness and photolithographyfriendliness. A word line crosses the center of an active region toobtain a maximum gate width of a memory cell transistor. The memory cellarray included in the semiconductor memory device according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention may be fabricated using aconventional fabrication process.

FIG. 3A shows a layout of active regions 103(AR) of a memory cell arrayaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3Bis a plan view of a mask pattern used to form the active regions shownin FIG. 3A. FIG. 3C is a plan view of the active regions 103 printed ona wafer.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, a plurality of active regions 13 (AR) arearranged in a matrix form. In other words, in a first row 1st_row, aplurality of active regions 103 (AR) are arranged at a pitch P. Thepitch P represents, for example, the sum of the width of the activeregion 103 and the distance between each active region in a row as shownin FIG. 3A. In a second row 2nd_row, a plurality of active regions 103(AR) are arranged at the pitch P. The active regions 103 (AR) of thesecond row 2nd_row are shifted in the direction of the row from theactive regions 103 (AR) of the first row 1st_row by a distance. Thedirection of the row means, for example, the direction to left or rightas shown in FIG. 3A. As a result, the active regions 103 (AR) of thefirst row 1st_row and the second row 2nd_row are alternately arranged. Adistance d between adjacent active regions 103 (AR) is same from alldirections. For example, as shown in. FIG. 3A, the distance d between:103(AR) and 103(AR1); 103(AR) and 103(AR2); 103(AR) and 103(AR3);103(AR) and 103(AR4); 103(AR) and 103(AR5); and 103(AR)1 and 103(AR6) issame. The distance between 103(AR) and 103(AR1) is a distance betweenadjacent rows. Since the distance d is same from all directions, highintegration density of the semiconductor memory device can beaccomplished. The distance d between adjacent active regions 103 (AR)corresponds to the minimum feature size in a line pattern and a spacepattern in the fabrication of the semiconductor memory device.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the active regions103 (AR) of the second row 2nd_row are shifted in the direction of therow from the active regions 103 (AR) of the first row 1st_row by half ofthe pitch P (½ P).

As shown in FIG. 3B, the mask pattern for patterning the active regions103 (AR) according to an exemplary embodiment of the present inventionis simpler than a conventional mask pattern. Further, the number ofauxiliary patterns 103 b, and 103 c is less than the number of auxiliarypatterns in conventional mask patterns, for example, shown in FIGS. 1Band 2B. The mask pattern according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention can be easily fabricated within a short period of timewhen symmetrical auxiliary patterns 103 b and 103 c are used.

FIG. 4A shows a layout of word lines 105(WL) of a memory cell array of asemiconductor memory device according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 4B is a plan view of the active regions 103 andword lines 105 printed on a wafer.

Referring to, FIG. 4A, the active regions 103(AR) and the word lines105(WL) are arranged such that two word lines cross each active region.The pitch P of the active regions 103(AR) is four times longer than theline width W of the word line 105(WL), thereby increasing theintegration density of the semiconductor memory device.

The word lines 105(WL) are formed on the active regions 103 (AR). Eachword line 105 (WL) includes access word lines AWL and pass word linesPWI, which are alternately arranged. The access word lines AWL are usedfor a switching function of memory cell transistors. The pass word linesPWL are formed in an isolation region positioned between neighboringactive regions for transmitting access signals.

Referring to FIG. 4B, the word lines 105 intersect the active regions103 perpendicularly such that most portions of the intersection G areused as the gate of the memory cell transistor. Further, since the wordlines 105 intersect the center of the active regions 103, which is theleast affected region by the optical proximity effect, the gate width GWcan be maximized. In FIG. 4B, GL represents a gate length.

FIG. 5A shows a layout of first self-aligned contacts 112(SAC1 ) andsecond self-aligned contacts 114(SAC2) of a memory cell array in asemiconductor memory device according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. FIGS. 5B and 5C are plan views of mask patterns forforming the self-aligned contacts 112(SAC1) and 114(SAC2). FIG. SD is aplan view of the self-aligned contacts 112 and 114 printed on a wafer.

Referring to FIG. 5A, the first self-aligned contacts 112(SAC1) andsecond self-aligned contacts 114(SAC2) are formed in active regions. Thefirst self-aligned contacts 112(SAC1) electrically contact firstimpurity region (106 of FIGS. 10A, 10B, and 10D) serving as source anddrain regions. The second self-aligned contacts 114(,SAC2) electricallycontact second impurity region (107 of FIGS. 10A, 10B, and 10L)) servingas source and drain regions. The first self-aligned contacts 112(SAC1)connects a bit line to the first impurity region. The secondself-aligned contacts 114(SAC2) connect a storage electrode of a chargestorage capacitor of a memory cell transistor to the second impurityregion.

FIG. 5B shows a mask pattern in which the first self-aligned contacts112(SAC1) and the second self-aligned contacts 114(SAC2) are defined bytransparent regions 112 aand 114 a. FIG. 5C shows a mask pattern inwhich the first self-aligned contacts 112(SAC1) and the secondself-aligned contacts 114(SAC2) are defined by a bar-shape opaque region111. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thefirst self-aligned contacts and the second self-aligned contacts can befabricated using the bar type mask pattern, having mask andphotolithography friendliness, shown in FIG. 5C.

Referring to FIG. 5D, the first self-aligned contacts 112 connected tothe first impurity region and the second self-aligned contact 114connected to the second impurity region are formed in each activeregion. The second self-aligned contacts 114 of adjacent active regionsof the first and second rows are connected to each other to form asingle contact. Accordingly, the memory cell array includes memory cellpairs, each of which includes two memory cells.

FIG. 6A shows a layout of bit line contacts 122(B/C) for directlyconnecting the first self-aligned contacts 112 shown in FIG. 10B to bitlines according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.FIG. 6B is a plan view of a mask pattern for forming the bit linecontacts. FIG. 6C is a plan view of the bit line contacts printed on thewafer. FIG. 7A shows a layout of storage node contacts 134(S/C) forconnecting the second self-aligned contacts 114 shown in FIG. 10B tostorage nodes of a charge storage capacitor according to an embodimentof the present invention. FIG. 7B is a plan view of a mask pattern forforming the storage node contacts 134 (S/C). FIG. 7C is a plan view ofan actual image of the storage node contacts 134 printed on the wafer.

Referring to FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6C, 7A, 7B, and 7C, the bit line contacts 122and the storage node contacts 134 of the memory cell array according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention have photolithographyfriendliness. To fabricate the mask patterns used to form the bit linecontacts 122 and the storage node contacts 134 are not complicated.

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram of the memory cell array according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 shows a layout ofthe memory cell array shown in FIG. 8.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, memory cells M including one transistor andone capacitor are arranged in a checkered pattern. A plurality of wordlines WL, are arranged in parallel and a plurality of bit lines BL arearranged perpendicularly to the word lines WL. The memory cells areconnected to the bit lines BL. The transistors of the memory cells areconnected to the word lines WL.

The memory cell array according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention includes memory cell pairs MP1, MP2, MP3 and MP4.Neighboring memory cells, for example M1 and M2, are connected to asingle bit line BL.

The word lines WL include a repeated pattern of four word lines WL(4 a),WL(4 b), WL(4 c) and WL(4 d). Two memory cells are connected to a singlebit line BL, to form a memory cell pair in every four word lines WL(4a), WL(4 b), WL(4 c) and WL,(4 d). The bit lines BL include a pattern offour bit lines BL(4 a), BL(4 b), BL(4 c) and BL(4 d). Memory cell pairshaving the same construction are repeatedly arranged in every four bitlines BL(4 a), BL(4 b), BL(4 c) and BL(4 d).

The first memory cell pair MP1 includes a first memory cell M1 formed ina first active region A1 intersecting the word line WL(4 a) and a secondmemory cell M2 formed in a second active region A2 intersecting the wordline WL(4 b). The first and the second memory cells M1 and M2 areconnected to the bit line BL(4 a).

The second memory cell pair MP2 includes a third memory cell M3 formedin a third active region A3 intersecting the word line WL(4 c) and afourth memory cell M4 formed in a fourth active region A4 intersectingthe word line WL(4 d). The third and the fourth memory cells M3 and M4are connected to the bit line BL(4 c).

The third memory cell pair MP3 includes a fifth memory cell M5 formed ina fifth active region A5 intersecting the word line WL(4 b) and a sixthmemory cell. M6 formed in a sixth active region A6 intersecting the wordline WL(4 c). The fifth and the sixth memory cells M5 and M6 areconnected to the bit line BL(4 b).

The fourth memory cell pair MP4 includes a seventh memory cell M/17formed in a seventh active region A7 intersecting the word line WL(4 d)and an eighth memory cell M8 formed in an eighth active region A8intersecting the word line WL(4 a) the seventh and the eighth memorycells M7 and M8 are connected to the bit line BL(4 d) The bit lines BL(4a) and BL(4 c) to which the first and the second memory cell pairs MP1and MP2 are connected are coupled to a first sense amplifier SA1 formedon one side of the memory cell array. The bit lines BL(4 b) and BL(4 d)to which the third and the fourth memory cell pairs MP3 and MP4 areconnected are coupled to a second sense amplifier SA2 formed on theother side of the memory cell array.

The memory cell array of the semiconductor memory device according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention includes unit memorycells. A unit memory cell 100 is shown in FIG. 9. The length of the unitmemory cell 100 is four times (i.e., 4F) of a minimum feature size F.The width of the unit memory cell 100 is two times (i.e., 2F) of theminimum feature size F. Thus, the cell size of the unit memory cell 100is 8F.sup.2 (4F.times.2F). In other words, an access word line AWL ofthe unit memory cell 100 has one minimum feature size F. A firstself-aligned contact 112, for connecting the bit line 132 to the firstimpurity region 106 serving as a drain has a minimum feature size F. Asecond self-aligned contact 114 for connecting the storage node of thecapacitor of the memory cell to the second impurity region 107 servingas a source region has a minimum feature size F. A pass word line PWL ofthe unit memory cell 100 has a minimum feature size F. The width of abit line BL of the unit memory cell 100 is a minimum feature size F. Thewidth of a bit line space BLS is a minimum feature size F.

FIGS. 10A to 10E are cross-sectional views of a semiconductor memorydevice including a Capacitor Over Bit (COB) line structure fabricatedaccording the layout shown in FIG. 9. Specifically, FIGS. 10A to 10E arecross-sectional views taken along lines a-a′, b-b′, c-c′, d-d′ and e-e′of FIG. 9, respectively.

The first impurity region 106 serves as a drain region. The secondimpurity region 107 serves as a source region. The first and the secondimpurity regions 106 and 107 are formed in the active regions AR1 andAR2 defined by shallow trench isolation regions 102. Each word line 105is formed on a channel region with a gate insulating layer 104positioned between the word lines 105 and the channel region. The wordlines 105 function as an access gate of the memory cell transistor. Sidewall spacers 108 are formed on both sides of the word lines 105. Acapping layer 109 is formed on the top of the word lines 105.

The first self-aligned contact 112 contacts with the first impurityregion 106. The second self-aligned contact 114 contacts with the secondimpurity region 107. The first and the second self-aligned contacts 112and 114 are formed in a first interlevel insulating layer 110. The firstand the second self-aligned contacts 112 and 114 are self-aligned withthe word lines WL 4 a, WL 4 b, WL 4 c and WL 4 d. As shown in FIGS. 10 aand 10 b, the first self-aligned contact 112 contacts with the firstimpurity region 106 formed in neighboring regions AR1 and AR2. Two ofthe first self-aligned contacts 112 are connected to each other suchthat the first and the second memory cells M1 and M2 construct onememory cell pair MP1 (as shown in FIG. 8). In other words, two of thefirst self-aligned contacts 112 are connected to each other on theisolation region 102 such that two memory cells M1 and M2 are connectedto a bit line 132. In contrast, two isolated self-isolated contacts 112are shown in FIG. IOD.

The bit line 132 (BL4 a) is connected to the first impurity region 106via the bit line contact 122 formed in a second interlevel insulatinglayer 120. A storage node 142 of a charge storage capacitor is connectedto the second impurity region 107 via a storage node contact 134 formedin the second interlevel insulating layer 120 and a third interlevelinsulating layer 130.

While FIGS. 10A to 10E show the COB structure, it will be understood bythose of ordinary skill in the art that the memory cell array of thepresent disclosure can be formed with a Capacitor Under Bit (CUB) linestructure. Preferably, processes of forming the self-aligned contacts112 and 114 in the CUB line structure are identical to the processes offorming the COB line structure. The cross-sectional structures shown inFIGS. 10A to 10E can be modified in various ways by those of ordinaryskill in the art.

Exemplary embodiment of the invention will be further disclosed bycomparing word line patterns according to the invention and theconventional art.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a modified mask pattern for forming a wordline of a memory cell array of a semiconductor memory device accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Compared to thelayout shown in FIG. 4A, the mask pattern shown in FIG. 11 has beenmodified such that the width of the access word line AWL formed on theactive region 103 increases to the maximum, for example 105 a, suitablefor the operation of the memory cell transistor. Compared to the layoutshown in FIG. 4A, the width of the pass word line PWL formed on theisolation region is reduced to the minimum, for example 105 f, requiredfor access signal transmission.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a mask pattern of word lines WL2 focused onthe conventional layout of the diagonal active regions (for example, 2shown in FIG. 2 a).

The word line pattern according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention includes five patterns 105 a, 105 b, 105 c, 105 d and105 e syimetricaly arranged as shown in FIG. 11 The word line patternaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is muchsimpler than the mask pattern (FIG. 12) of the conventional art.

Exemplary embodiment of the invention will be further disclosed bycomparing the areas of the intersections of the word lines and activeregions according to the present invention and the conventional art.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, mask patterns ofthe active. regions, word lines, and self-aligned contacts are formedaccording to 0.1 .mu.m design rule. Then, images formed when the activeregions, the word lines, and the self-aligned contacts are actuallytransferred onto a wafer were simulated. The layout of FIG. 11 was usedas the word line layout. Thus the active regions and self-alignedcontact layouts were also able to be modified. FIG. 13 is a plan viewshowing the simulated images of the active regions 103, word lines 105,and self-aligned contacts 112 aid 114, Images of straight and diagonalactive regions and word lines of the conventional art were alsosimulated through the same design rule such as, for example, the 0.1.mu.m design rule. The ratio between: gate pattern widths of theconventional layout of straight active regions; gate pattern widths ofthe conventional layout of diagonal active regions; and gate patternwidths was measured as 1:1.2:1.4 according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention. The gate pattern width corresponds to theintersection of the active region and the word line. The gate patternwidth is used to calculate the actual gate area.

Referring to FIG. 14, a threshold voltage Vth increases as the gatewidth increases. The increased threshold voltage decreases sub-thresholdleakage current and improves the dynamic refresh characteristics ofDRAMs. Furthermore, the memory cell array according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention has a margin of maximum 40% in thedesign rule compared to the conventional art.

The semiconductor memory device according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention has a symmetrical memory cell structure such thatit has mask and photolithography friendliness. Since the intersection ofthe word lines and active regions (i.e., the actual gate width)increases by approximately 40% over the conventional art, theperformance of the memory cell transistor improves and the design rulehas a margin of approximately 40%. Although exemplary embodiments havebeen described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it isto be understood that the present invention is not limited to thoseprecise embodiments, and that various other changes and modificationsmay be affected therein by one of ordinary skill in the related artwithout departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. All suchchanges and modifications are intended to be included within the scopeof the invention as defined by the appended claims.

1. A semiconductor memory device comprising: a plurality of rows, eachrow comprising a plurality of active regions arranged at a pitch whereinthe active regions in adjacent rows are shifted with respect to eachother by one half of the pitch, wherein a distance between each activeregion in a row is equal to a distance between active regions inadjacent rows.
 2. The semiconductor memory device as claimed in claim 1,wherein the distance between each active region is a minimum featuresize for fabricating the semiconductor memory device.
 3. A semiconductormemory device comprising: a plurality of rows, each row comprising aplurality of active regions arranged at a pitch wherein the activeregions in adjacent rows are shifted with respect each other by one halfof the pitch, wherein a distance between each active region in a row isequal to a distance between active regions in adjacent rows; and aplurality of word lines arranged in the direction of a column, whereinthe word lines intersect the plurality of active regions, wherein thepitch is four times of a width of a word line.
 4. The semiconductormemory device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the plurality of activeregions of the second row are shifted by a half of the pitch.
 5. Thesemiconductor memory device as claimed in claim 3, wherein each of theword lines intersects centers of each active region.
 6. Thesemiconductor memory device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the pluralityof word lines perpendicularly intersect each active region.
 7. Thesemiconductor memory device as claimed in claim 3, further comprises aplurality of bit lines arranged parallel to the active regions andarranged between rows.